Hi Chris, sorry for the bombardment. I've heard back from the helpline. Here's what they had to say (I've bolded bits that answer your questions directly myself): Have spent a bit of time researching this email and I have included some information for you. This lady is having AC (chemotherapy) then having taxotere.This is one of the commonly used protocols for breast cancer. The taxotere is given after the AC not at the same time. I am assuming that this lady is HER2 positive which is why she is having herceptin. Herceptin is not a chemotherapy but a monoclonal antibody which means that it joins to the receptors on the cancer cells so that the epidermal growth factor (food source for the cancer) cannot reach the breast cancer cells. This stops the cells from dividing and growing. Current research is assessing Herceptin's effects when it is given with certain chemotherapy drugs. If it is given with some chemotherapy drugs, particularly paclitaxel (Taxol) and docetaxel (Taxotere®) , it increases the effectiveness of the chemotherapy and may improve survival.Herceptin may be given once a week or once every three weeks. If Herceptin is given together with Taxol or Taxotere, they are given in the normal way, which is usually every three weeks. Below is a web link on herceptin. The HERA trial is comparing treatment with herceptin for 1 year vs 2 years but the results aren't known yet. Other trials are looking at whether 6 months works as well as 12 months.http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Biologicaltherapies/Monoclonalantibodies/TrastuzumabThe lady also mentions no 2 week gap to get over the herceptin side effects but we need to remember that this is a monoclonal antibody which is different to a chemo. There are side effects especially to the heart but herceptin does not lower the blood counts (like chemo) which is why we give chemo in cycles and wait for the blood cells to recover. Generally the side effects of the AC are worse than those of T alone and so if she is coping well with AC then the feeling would be that she will be OK with the T. I have though, included the web links to side effects of AC and T below. http://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Combinationregimen/AChttp://www.cancerbackup.org.uk/Treatments/Chemotherapy/Individualdrugs/Docetaxel
